Transcript of Art, Activism and Academia: Blurring the Boundaries · Art, Activism and Academia:! Blurring the...
Art, Activism and Academia:!Blurring the Boundaries
Deborah BarndtFaculty of Environmental Studies
York University
PensadoraPolíticaPoeta
or….
Analyst, Activist, and Artist
!Transnational Research Story 1:!
The Tomasita Project
���The tomato !as a code of globalization
The NAFTA Journey !of the !
Corporate Tomato
Builds on and reinforces !north-south inequities
Interdisciplinary tomato
Production/Consumption: Distancing
Biodiversity/Cultural Diversity:���Uniformity and Homogenization
Work/Technology: Flexible Labour
Health/Environment: ���Ecological/Holistic Health
Positionality and self-reflexivity
Globalization from above
Wal-Mart���the new icon
Photos not allowed!
Adbusting: ���Making ���workers���visible
Kids remake ads
Corporate control of image(s)
Globalization !from below
Interlocking analysis of power
Levels ���of ���
oppression
Border Crossers:���Transnational
migrant labour
Women solidarity
Tomato consciousness:���Plants as living entities
The Other Globalization
LEVELS OF ACTION
• Individual critical thoughts and actions• Local/global education• Collective action and alternatives• Transnational coalitions
SEEDS OF HOPE!!
MEXICO
Environmental and ���Human Rights Activists
Returning stories to their source
El Campo No Aguanta Más (The Countryside Won’t Take It Any More)
Maize Movements: ���Defending Biodiversity from NAFTA Corn
Unitierra - ���Indigenous university
Zapatista movement
SEEDS OF HOPE!!
UNITED STATES
Mexican migrants take on��� Fast Food giants
SEEDS OF HOPE!!
CANADA
FoodShare:Telling Food and
Eating Stories
FoodShare: ���Seeds of Our City
FoodShare���School Salad Bars ���
Transforming University Food Services
GLOCAL RESEARCH STORY 3!!
The FoodShed Project!The Innovative Community of Food Practice !
in the Southern Ontario Foodshed!(2008 - )
University-community collaboration
Organizational Ecology
Generational Renewal
Cultural Renewal
Our approach ���integrates
• Participatory action research• Popular education• Community arts
Photo and video documentation, digital storytelling
Music, performance ���and popular theatre
Community murals and ���Food and diaspora installation
Transnational Research Story 2: !The VIVA! Project!
! Creative Tensions of !
Community Arts Practice !in Social Movements of the Americas!
VIVA! Project !Exchange of community arts in the Americas
Creative Tensions of Community Arts
• Process/product• Aesthetics/ethics• Cultural reclamation/ cultural reinvention• Spiritual/political• Body/earth
RECOVERING HISTORY:
From Indigenous to diasporic contexts
Kuna Children’s ���Art Project���
CEASPA, Panama
From the islandsTo the city
Personal Legacy Project���Diane Roberts ���(CAO, York)
���Recovering cultural memory���
through embodied spiritual practices
RECREATING IDENTITIES:
From the Atlantic Coast of Nicaraguato the Pacific Coast of the U.S.
BILWIVISION ���Community Television ��� URRACAN University��� Bilwi, Nicaragua
Representating local issues to stimulate���collective action
Artsbridge (UCLA)���Los Angeles, California
���Embodied learning ���in schools
TRANSFORMING PUBLIC SPACE:
From marketplaces to neighbourhoods
Bridge of One Hair���Jumblies Theatre /York University, Toronto
Different ���cultural aesthetics
Cultural Marketplace ���Mexican Institute for Community Development Guadalajara, Mexico
Struggle for public space ���for diverse groups engaged ���in social movements
NURTURING NEW GENERATIONS:
Extending artistic practice
Telling Our Stories���Catalyst Centre, Toronto
Kids take power in haircutting performance
Painting by Listening���Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana,���Ciudad de México
Community Arts Practice
A joint certificate of the Faculty of Environmental Studies
and the Faculty of Fine Arts
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
• Community-based cultural productions in fourth year
• Placements with local cultural agencies and community organizations
• International internships in Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Argentina
PROGRAM PATH
• 12 credits of core coursesYear 2: ENVS/FACS 2122 3.0 Community Arts for Social Change
Year 3: ENVS/FACS 3122 3.0 Preparatory Workshop in Community Arts
Year 4: ENVS/FACS 4122 6.0 Practicum/Seminar in Community Arts
• 12 electives: one from each of 4 categoriesCommunity and Popular EducationIntroductory Studio Course in an Artistic DisciplineCritical Social AnalysisAdvanced Community-Related Arts Practice
Master’s in Environmental Studies Artists/activists/academics
York University’s Eco Art and Media Festival www.yorku.ca/ecoart